Knockdown cabinet



Jan. 12 1926.` 1 1,569,832

W. L. .BYRNE Er A1 'KNO CKDOWN CABINET` m//fam L. @We

" BY Hdryq/ Hees/ej d 5 1 f1 THEIR ATTORNEY INVEN TOR 5l Vy; l.. BYRNE:iA

Jan. 12' l1926.

KNoCKDowN CAB- mmf faz n INYENTOS y W/'l//kzm L, Byrne.

` Hart/6]. 5665/6] BY ,THEIR ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 12, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM L. BrRNn'AND HARVEY A.' BEESLEY, or Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

xNooxDowN CABINET.

Application mea :une 1,

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM L. BYRNE and HARVEY A. BEESLEY, citizensvof the United States, and residents o f the city of Los Angeles, in thecounty of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new anduseful Knockdown Cabinet, of which the following is a `specification.

This invention relates to cabinets,l such as may be used for radio sets,and especially to cabinets that may be readily set up from itscomponentparts without the aid of any tools or `fastening means.

It is one of the objects of our invention to make it possible to provide.an inexpensive andsturdy cabinet, that is not only ornamental, but thatcan be readily assembled or' taken apart, as for shipment or the like.

Another object of our invention is to provide a shelf structure in aknockdown cablnet' in which lthe shelves serve also as the b races forthe cabinet to render it rigid.

Still another object of our invention is to provide a radio cabinet thatcan readily be made to accommodate radio panels of differentsizes. J

Our vinvention possesses many other ad vantagies, and has other objectswhich may be made more easily apparent from a consideration cfa form of'our invention. For this purpose we have s'hownan embodiment in thedrawings accompanying and forming part'of the present specification. W'eshall nowl proceed to describe this embodiment in detail, whichillustrates the general prin ciples of our invention; but it is to beunderstood that this detaileddescription is not to be' taken in 'alimiting sense, since. the scope of the invention is best ldefined bythe appended claims. n f p Referring to the drawings:v

Figure 1 is a front elevation'of an Vassembled radio cabinet embodyingour invention;

Figure 2 is an-isometric view, showing the cabinet partly assembled, anda few other parts in position tube assembled;

F igureV 3 is a horizontal sectional View taken along plane 3--3 of Fig.1;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of one of the shelves used; and Y Fig. 5 is anelevation of a part of one of the sides.

The cabinet ,in this4 instance is shown as made from wood, althoughother material can if considered desirable, be used. The4 l1925. serialNg: 34,094.

cabinet has two side members l11 (Figs. 2 and 5) which can be made froma solid piece or from a number `of pieces permanent- 1y attached. Eachside member preferably includes a pairof corner posts 12, shown as l ofsubstantially square cross section. The bottom portions vof these postscan be formed into ornamental legs 13, which serve to support theentirecabinet at a suitable height. Between the corner posts foreachside member 11, there is ,a panelinglfor the like,

which extends entirely across from one post to the other. In the presentinstance these panelsare shown as glued or'otherwise fastened in grooveslocated in the contiguous faces of the posts 12, and as being providedat the top and bottom with border strips 15 and 16. VThese side membersl1 could obviously be made in other equivalent ways.

One ofthe important features of our invention resides in the manner inwhich the twosides 11 are held rigidly in s aced relation to 4each otherby the aid o separable elements.V Forthis purpose, we. use one ormoreshelf structures'l? and 18, which of course also serve for theaccommodation of the apparatus to be supported'in the4 cabinet. Each'shelf is provided at each of its ends with a cleat 19, fastened to theshelf, and having tongues 20 (Figs'r2, 3 and 4) which extendtransversely of the cleat.

These tongues are arranged to entersnugly v into grooves 21 provided inthe inner faces of the posts 12. The cleats and the tongues are moreoverso proportioned that the ends of the shelves lie closely to the innervsurface of the sides 11, as indicated in Fig. 3. Since the cleats 19 andthe shelves form a consid-` erable area of contact at these places, andp since the tongue and groove connection holds the parts tightly againsteach other, it is seen that a rigid structure is secured.

This is enhanced when, as in the present instance, more than, one shelfis utilized as braces; Q

In order to ensure that the shelvesl'` and 18 will be properly spacedapart a predeter- 'l mined distance, there are preferably provided onthe inner surface of members 11, a

pair 4of shelf rests 22, upon which th'e ends of the shelves `areaccommodated.

It is further to be noted, as shownmostv clearly in Fig. 2, that grooves21 do not extend entirely to the top of posts 12, but

stop short thereof. It is vthus necessary,

when assembling shelves 17 and 18 with sides 11, to incline theseshelves so as to permit placing the ends olf the shelves in slantwisebetween the posts 12, and then to return them to a horizontal position,while tongues 2O simultaneously enter the grooves` 21.

The bach for the cabinet can be provided in any wrll `known manner, butwe prefer to arrange it so that it can be separated into several partstor convenience in transporting. Accordingly we show the back in Fig. 2as made up of a plurality of thin sheets or boards. :22) and 24. Theseare accommodated at their lateral edges in grooves 25 `formed in theposts 12; the grooves being suiliriently tight to torni a good joint. Inorder to conceal the place where the two parts 23 and 2l come together,there is provided a strip 2G grooved at the top and bottom, arranged totake the bottom edge ot' the board 231. in. the upper groove, as wellVas the top edge of b oard 23 in the lower groove. The strip 2G alsoprovides a panelled eil'ect ior the back of the cabinet.

A top strip 27 having a bottom groove for the top edge of board 24 isalso provided in order to form a wide frame at the top of the fabinet.This strip has tongues 28 litting snugly within grooves 25. All oftheparts 23, 2G, 2st, and 27 can be readily slippcd in and out of place,while the shelves 17 and 18 are insposition.

The front of the cabinet is also preferably sectional. For exam le, alower section' 29 is provided, whici is panelled as shown, havingl a topstrip 30 and a lower strip 31. This section 29 is preferably permanentlyfastened to these top and lower strips, and its edges enter into grooves42 similar to grooves 25. Furthermore, at

about the central portion of this lower section 29, there is a veneeredpanel 32, which has a cut-out ornamental design on it. It

intended that a loud speaker be accommodated immediately behind thisdesign in the cabinet.; but otl course other forms for the lower sectioncould also be used.

The upper border' strip 30has a groove 3G in its .upper edge, toaccommodate the elements that form the upper section. This upper sectionis preferably formed in such manner that a radio panel 38 can beconveniently and separably supported in the grooves 36 at the bottomedge of the panel. The sides ofv the panel 33 can be accommodated ingrooves in the borderstrips Bt, which. have tongues at their bottomsentering into the 'groove 36. A pair of panels 37, one at each side ofthe panel 33, have their bottom edges accommodated in groove 3G; oneside edge of each is accomm'odated,V as shown, 1n F1g. 3, 1n verticalgrooves in the contiguous border strip 34;, while the other side edge isaccommodated in that groove 42 which is adjacent. It is evident thatvarious arrangements can beprovided ior three panels and 37, as regardssize and relative position.

The top edges oi all three panels are held in a groove 38 formed in thebottom ot a border strip 39, similar in all respects to the border strip27-at the back oi' the cab inet. This strip also has tongues (such as 28on strip 27) which enter snugly into grooves 42. Furthermore thevertical border strips 8l have tongues t0 at their tops that enter intothe groove 38.

A cover 111 rests on top of the cabinet. This may be either hinged atthe back, or else cleats can be fastened to the lower side of the cover,which tit into the corners of the top and serve to aline the cover withrespect thereto.

Theradio apparatus may be distributed in any convenient or desiredmanner in the cabinet and on the shelves 17 and 1S. The cabinet can veryreadily be modified to take' care of various sizes of radio panels, asby proper choice of the size of the panels 37. The connections for theapparatus can be passed from one shelf to the other at the front or'rearof the shelves, there being suiiicient clearance for this, as indicatedmost clearly in Fig. 2.

The description oi. the cabinet is now complete. There remains to bedescribed merely the manner in which the cabinet may be assembled andtaken apart. First ot all, the shelves 17 and 18 are positionedAproperly as regards sides 11, to form the structure illustrated in Fig.2. Then parts 23, 26, 24 and 27 can in this order be placed one on topof another between grooves 25. The back is then complete. For the front,the lower section 29 is first placed in position between grooves +12:then panels 37 are spaced in grooves l2 and The border strips 3-1-`can-be then positioned, and after- 'a rd, the panel 33. Then it ismerely necessary to place strip 39 over the panels, and the assembly iscomplete except for the placing of cover 41.

It is evident that the assembly takes less time than it does to describeit; and that a rigid, although inexpensiveconstruction, is providedthereby. The manner of taking the cabinet apart is evident from theforegoing.

It is of course possible to utilize the cabinetA forother than radioapparatus, although it is best fitted for such use.

When the cabinet is taken apart., it can readily be packed in a smallspace. The largest parts are the side-members l1. The tact that thefront and back are both made from several pieces makes it possible tosecure this compaetness. Due to this feature, the shipping ortransportation cost is very materially reduced. Another important llUfeature is that "all of the` parts canbe'very inexpensively'manufactured,` so that Ithe. Aultimate cost ,to` the purchaser is.maintained at alo'wvalue. y, u g

A divisionalapplication Serial No;- 77,509,

filed December Q4, 1925, isfdirected to sub-` ject-matter not covered inthe claims of. the Present application.

.We claim.;

1. In a radio cabinet, a 4striphaving aa groove 1n its upper surface,side `portions having; .`vertically, `oppositely formed grooves,'a topstriparranged witha groove in its 'lower surface, said grooves definingan aperture lhaving' a groove arou'nd itsy inner edge,'a pair.of'detaeh'ablepanel ele-V ments, each resting at its bottom edge in thelower groove-at one side edge in 'a side edge in the upper' groove, anda pair o detachable laterallygroove, 'and at its to shiftable uprightgrooved strips in which the other edgesof the panels are respectivelylaced, said strips falso having tongues resting Ain the topA and bottomgrooves, as well as grooves'dening with said top and' bot-- tom grooves,an aperture inwhielijairadio' panel can be detachablyl supported at itsedges bythe aidof said grooves. y f

2511i aknockLdown radio cabinet, means forming separable side vandrbaekmembers,

Y said side members having ,inwardly/.facing grooves in the edgesthereof, a bottom por-A tion forming' .part of the front -of the cabinetandV having a groove in its upper edge, a detachable top portionengaging the grooves-in the side members and `havinga downwardl openinggroove opposite the groove 'in t e 'bottomlp'ortioma pair of veriticallydisposed .laterally shift'able strips,

v'member com yrising lower andiippergsections, the sai lower sectionhaving a groove 1n its upper edge and a sound exrt opening comprising`two vertically. and one' horizon-` tall disposed separable stripsprovided wit y tongues-- Ion theA ends thereof, said `horizontal stripbeing provided with a downwardly opening, groove, said vertical stripsbeing y-disposed between said lower section and said horizontal stripwith their tongue slidably enva'incf said grooves and' detachable paneleleneltits filling the V spaces between said vertical strips` and said Ynook-down radio rcabinet having .intermediate its ends, said uppersection 'side members, the said vertical strips being separated-toprovide a spacefor aradio panel. n WILLIAM L. BYRNE.

HARVEY A. BEESLEY.

